Recently there have been a number of letters published on your newspaper calling upon the government to offer a tax concession also to parents who send their children to Church schools, in the same way as parents who send children to private schools.

I think that these parents are being rather cheeky in their demands. Don’t they know that the government subsidises Church schools heavily?

If no subsidies existed, Church schools would either have to ask for a hefty donation from each and every family, or else have to close down. Judging from what colleagues of mine at work say, donations to Church schools do not amount to more than Lm50-Lm70 per child per term, when private schools cost between five and six times that much.

Of course, people may argue that it is our choice to send our children to private schools.

But, using the same argument, parents who send their children to Church schools can also opt to take their children out and put them in government schools if they do not want to give their donation.

P. Camilleri

Sliema